The 100-Year Anniversary of James Agee's Birth in Tennessee

James Agee always considered his true vocation to be poetry, and it's difficult to think of another writer whose work lends itself so readily to painterly interpretation. DeLoss McGraw, a visual artist who often finds inspiration in the thematics and imagery of authors, has a show at the Main Library as part of the centennial celebration of Agee's birth, focusing on Agee's essay "Knoxville: The Summer of 1915" and two additional poems. Not only fans of the visual arts but also ardent readers should plan to attend, for frequent Sewanee Writers' Conference member and part-time Tennessee resident Andrew Hudgins recently edited a selection of Agee's verse for the Library of America, to which many are bound to turn (or return) after seeing McGraw's work. How the loss-obsessed Agee would have loved his interpreter's first name, who says he strives on canvas to recreate "the gentle sway of Agee's verse."
Mondays-Sundays. Starts: June 18. Continues through Sept. 27, 2009